Friday, July 25, 2014

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid - Book Blitz

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA.
She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need
someone the most.

There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams
for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen
goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes
off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost
the ability to love.

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves
them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile
journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need
most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're
looking for is to get lost along the way.

“Reminiscent of John Green’s Paper
Towns and road trip novels that feature a teen paving the way to
adulthood, Alsaid’s debut is a gem among contemporary YA novels.” – School
Library Journal

“Five love stories, beautifully woven
together by a special girl in search of adventure, hope, and full
appreciation of life’s simple pleasures. A do-not-miss. ” – Justine Magazine

“Moving and poignant.” - Glitter Magazine

“An entertaining and romantic road-trip
debut.” – Kirkus

"Leila's quest to find the Northern
Lights takes readers on a captivating cross-country journey, where four
strangers' adventures collide into one riveting tale of finding yourself." ―YABooksCentral.com“This will likely be a popular summer
hit, especially for older teen about to embark on their own journeys of
self-discovery.” –Booklist

Today Adi Alsaid shares his thoughts on

Why Airports are Great for Writers

One of my ultimate go-tos for inspiration is
people-watching, and there’s no greater place than an airport to people watch.
The sheer mass and diversity of people, the potential for imagined stories. I
could sit at an airport and watch for hours even if I didn’t have a flight. I have
done that, actually. When I lived in Vegas, sometimes I’d go to the airport
baggage claim with a friend and some coffee and we’d try to guess where
everyone was coming from, try to decipher airport codes we weren’t familiar
with.

Airports offer the freedom to observe. You have a few hours
before your flight boards to do nothing but see all sorts of people gathered
together, to imagine whatever you want about them, even if you are wildly wrong.
Grab some coffee and sit at your gate, take a seat at the overpriced bar or at
a restaurant that faces out at the terminal, put a book in front of you in case
traffic slows down, a notebook next to that, keep an ear perked for
eavesdropping some conversation. Watch the material come to you.

And if you’re the type of writer that gets inspiration from
other people’s lives, stealing away their details for later creative use
(aren’t we all that kind of writer?), just start talking to someone. Even with
the walking-on-eggshells feeling that airports sometimes have these days, where
your bags must be with you at all times and suspicious behavior might be
defined as not getting any cream cheese with your bagel, people are still
extremely open to each other at airports. The fact that everyone is just
passing through opens people up to conversation, I’ve found. Seatmates in
particular, but at bookstores and restaurants and anywhere else you might find
yourself sitting next to someone at an airport. If they find you annoying and
don’t want to talk, they’ll let you know by answering only in grunts and
continuing to read their magazine. But sometimes they’ll unload their stories
on you, like the flight attendant for Air Force Two whom I met and had traveled
the world (something like 87 countries?). Or the poor diplomat from Ecuador
whose flight from New York to Mexico to Ecuador turned into a five-stop
24-hour+ nightmare.

Attractive people you’ll never see again, groups of teens
dreaming of adventures, escapes, reunions, dreading the leaving of them. So
many little scenes from daily life, on display for a much larger audience.
Mothers trying to place a fast food order for a family of six, a couple already
reminiscing about their trip, siblings ignoring each other with headphones.
Businessmen on phone calls, working on their computers with a cup of coffee in
hand, unwinding at the corner seat of the bar.

Where there are people there are stories, simply put.

About the Author

Adi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City, then studied at the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While in class, he mostly read fiction and
continuously failed to fill out crossword puzzles, so it's no surprise that
after graduating, he did not go into business world but rather packed up his
apartment into his car and escaped to the California coastline to become a
writer. He's now back in his hometown, where he writes, coaches high school and
elementary basketball, and has perfected the art of making every dish he eats
or cooks as spicy as possible. In addition to Mexico, he's lived in Tel Aviv,
Las Vegas, and Monterey, California. A tingly feeling in his feet tells him
more places will eventually be added to the list. Let's Get Lost is his YA
debut. Let's Get Lost Website!